1SG_WRITE_X(8) SG3_UTILS SG_WRITE_X(8)
2
6 sg_write_x - SCSI WRITE normal/ATOMIC/SAME/SCATTERED/STREAM, ORWRITE
7 commands
8
10 sg_write_x [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT] [--atomic=AB] [--bmop=OP,PGP]
11 [--bs=BS] [--combined=DOF] [--dld=DLD] [--dpo] [--dry-run] [--fua]
12 [--generation=EOG,NOG] [--grpnum=GN] [--help] --in=IF
13 [--lba=LBA[,LBA...]] [--normal] [--num=NUM[,NUM...]] [--off‐
14 set=OFF[,DLEN]] [--or] [--quiet] [--ref-tag=RT] [--same=NDOB]
15 [--scat-file=SF] [--scat-raw] [--scattered=RD] [--stream=ID] [--strict]
16 [--tag-mask=TM] [--timeout=TO] [--unmap=U_A] [--verbose] [--version]
17 [--wrprotect=WPR] DEVICE
18 Synopsis per supported command:
20 sg_write_x --normal --in=IF [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT] [--bs=BS]
22 [--dld=DLD] [--dpo] [--fua] [--grpnum=GN] [--lba=LBA] [--num=NUM]
23 [--offset=OFF[,DLEN]] [--ref-tag=RT] [--strict] [--tag-mask=TM]
24 [--timeout=TO] [--wrprotect=WPR] DEVICE
25 sg_write_x --or --in=IF [--16] [--32] [--bmop=OP,PGP] [--bs=BS] [--dpo]
27 [--fua] [--generation=EOG,NOG] [--grpnum=GN] [--lba=LBA] [--num=NUM]
28 [--offset=OFF[,DLEN]] [--strict] [--timeout=TO] [--wrprotect=OPR]
29 DEVICE
30 sg_write_x --atomic=AB --in=IF [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT] [--bs=BS]
32 [--dpo] [--fua] [--grpnum=GN] [--lba=LBA] [--num=NUM] [--off‐
33 set=OFF[,DLEN]] [--ref-tag=RT] [--strict] [--timeout=TO] [--wrpro‐
34 tect=WPR] DEVICE
35 sg_write_x --same=NDOB [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT] [--bs=BS] [--dpo]
37 [--fua] [--grpnum=GN] [--in=IF] [--lba=LBA] [--num=NUM] [--off‐
38 set=OFF[,DLEN]] [--ref-tag=RT] [--strict] [--timeout=TO] [--unmap=U_A]
39 [--wrprotect=WPR] DEVICE
40 sg_write_x --scattered=RD --in=IF [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT]
42 [--bs=BS] [--dld=DLD] [--dpo] [--fua] [--grpnum=GN]
43 [--lba=LBA[,LBA...]] [--num=NUM[,NUM...]] [--offset=OFF[,DLEN]]
44 [--ref-tag=RT] [--scat-file=SF] [--scat-raw] [--strict] [--tag-mask=TM]
45 [--timeout=TO] [--wrprotect=WPR] DEVICE
46 sg_write_x --stream=ID --in=IF [--16] [--32] [--app-tag=AT] [--bs=BS]
48 [--dpo] [--fua] [--grpnum=GN] [--lba=LBA] [--num=NUM] [--off‐
49 set=OFF[,DLEN]] [--ref-tag=RT] [--strict] [--tag-mask=TM] [--time‐
50 out=TO] [--wrprotect=WPR] DEVICE
51
53 This utility will send one of six SCSI commands, all associated with
54 writing data to the given DEVICE. They are a "normal" WRITE, ORWRITE,
55 WRITE ATOMIC, WRITE SAME, WRITE SCATTERED or WRITE STREAM. This utility
56 supports the 16 and 32 byte variants of all six commands. Hence some
57 closely related commands are not supported (e.g. WRITE(10)). All 32
58 byte variants, apart from ORWRITE(32), require the DEVICE to be format‐
59 ted with type 1, 2 or 3 Protection Information (PI), making all logical
60 blocks 8 bytes (or a multiple of 8 bytes) longer on the media.
61 The command line interface is a little crowded with over thirty
63 options. Hence the SYNOPSIS, after listing all the (long) options,
64 lists those applicable to each supported command. For each command syn‐
65 opsis, the option that selects the SCSI command is shown first followed
66 by any required options. If no command option is given then a "normal"
67 WRITE is assumed. Even though the --scat-file=SF option can be given
68 for every command, it is only shown for WRITE SCATTERED where it is
69 most useful. If the --scat-file=SF option is given then neither the
70 --lba=LBA[,LBA...] nor the --num=NUM[,NUM...] options should be given.
71 Only the first item of the --lba=LBA[,LBA...] and the
72 --num=NUM[,NUM...] options (or first pair (or quintet) from the
73 --scat-file=SF option) is used for all but the WRITE SCATTERED command.
74 All commands can take --dry-run and --verbose in addition to those
75 shown in the SYNOPSIS.
76 The logical block size in bytes can be given explicitly with the
78 --bs=BS option, as long as BS is greater than zero. It is typically a
79 power of two, 512 or greater. If the --bs=BS option is not given or BS
80 is zero then the SCSI READ CAPACITY command is used to find the logical
81 block size. First the READ CAPACITY(16) command is tried and if suc‐
82 cessful the logical block size in the response is typically used as the
83 actual block size for this utility. The exception is when PROT_EN is
84 set in the response and the --wrprotect=WPR option is given and
85 non-zero; in which case 8 (bytes) is added to the logical block size to
86 yield the actual block size used by this utility. If READ CAPACITY(16)
87 fails then READ CAPACITY(10) is tried and if that works then the logi‐
88 cal block size in the response is used as the actual block size.
89 The number of bytes this utility will attempt to read from the file
91 named by IF is the product of the actual block size and the num‐
92 ber_of_blocks (NUM or the sum of NUM arguments). If less bytes are read
93 from the file IF and the --strict option is given then this utility
94 exits with an exit status of SG_LIB_FILE_ERROR. If less bytes are read
95 from the file IF and the --strict option is not given then bytes of
96 zero are substituted for the "missing" bytes and this utility contin‐
97 ues.
98 Attempts to write multi megabyte data with a single command are likely
100 to fail for one of several reasons. First the operating system might
101 object to allocating a buffer that large. Next the SCSI pass-through
102 usually limits data blocks to a few megabytes or less. Finally the
103 storage device might have a limited amount of RAM to support a write
104 operation such as atomic (as it may need to roll back). The storage
105 device can inform the application client of its limitations via the
106 block limits VPD page (0xb0), with the maximum atomic transfer length
107 field amongst others.
108 A degenerate LBA (Logical Block Address) range descriptor with no PI
110 has an LBA and NUM of zero. A degenerate LBA range descriptor with PI
111 additionally has its RT, AT and TM fields set to zero (note: that is
112 not the default values for RT, AT and TM). They are degenerate in the
113 sense that they are indistinguishable from a pad of zeros that follow
114 the scatter list in the data-out buffer. SBC-4 makes clear that a
115 degenerate LBA range descriptor is valid. This may become an issue if
116 RD given in the --scattered=RD option has the value 0. In this case the
117 logic may need to scan the user provided data to calculate the number
118 of LBA range descriptors which is required by the WRITE SCATTERED cdb.
119 In the absence of other information the logic will take a degenerate
120 LBA range descriptor as a terminator of the scatter list.
121 The current reference for these commands is draft SBC-4 (T10/BSR INCITS
123 506) revision 15 dated 9 November 2017. All six SCSI commands are
124 described in that document. WRITE ATOMIC was added in SBC-4 revision 3;
125 WRITE STREAM was added in SBC-4 revision 7; WRITE SCATTERED was added
126 in SBC-4 revision 11 while the others are in the SBC-3 standard.
127
129 Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well. The
130 options are arranged in alphabetical order based on the long option
131 name.
132 -6, --16
134 send the 16 byte cdb variant of the selected SCSI command. If no
135 command is selected then the (normal) SCSI WRITE(16) command is
136 sent. If neither this option nor the --32 option is given then
137 this option is assumed.
138 -3, --32
140 send the 32 byte cdb variant of the selected SCSI command. If no
141 command is selected then the (normal) SCSI WRITE(32) command is
142 sent. If neither this option nor the --16 option is given then
143 then the --16 option is assumed. If both this option and the
144 --16 option are given then this option takes precedence. Note
145 that apart from ORWRITE(32) all other 32 byte cdb variants
146 require a DEVICE formatted with type 1, 2 or 3 protection infor‐
147 mation.
148 -a, --app-tag=AT
150 where AT is the "expected logical block application tag" field
151 found in most of the 32 byte cdb variants (the exception is
152 ORWRITE(32)). AT is a 16 bit field which means the maximum value
153 is 0xffff. The default value is 0xffff .
154 -A, --atomic=AB
156 selects the WRITE ATOMIC command and AB is placed in the Atomic
157 Boundary field of its cdb. It is a 16 bit field so the maximum
158 value is 0xffff. If unsure what value to set, try 0 which will
159 attempt to write the whole data-out buffer in a single atomic
160 operation.
161 -B, --bmop=OP,PGP
163 where OP and PGP are the values to be placed in ORWRITE(32)'s
164 BMOP and 'Previous Generation Processing' fields respectively.
165 BMOP is a 3 bit field (ranges from 0 to 7) and PGP is a 4 bit
166 field (ranges from 0 to 15). Both fields default to 0.
167 -b, --bs=BS
169 where BS is the logical block size or the actual block size
170 which will be slightly bigger. The default value is zero. If
171 this option is not given or is given with a BS of zero then the
172 SCSI READ CAPACITY(16) command is sent to DEVICE. If that fails
173 then the READ CAPACITY(10) command is sent. The logical and
174 actual block size will be derived from the response of the READ
175 CAPACITY command.
176 This section assumes BS is greater than zero. If BS is less than
177 512 (bytes) or not a multiple of 8, a warning is issued and the
178 utility continues unless the --strict option is also given. If
179 BS is a power of two (e.g. 512) then the logical and actual
180 block size is set to BS (e.g. 512). If BS is not a power of two
181 (e.g. 520) then the logical block size is set to the closest
182 power of two less than BS (e.g. 512) and the actual block size
183 is set to BS (e.g. 520).
184 If the logical and actual block size are different then a later
185 check will reduce the actual block size back to the logical
186 block size unless --wrprotect=WPR is greater than zero.
187 -c, --combined=DOF
189 This option only applies to WRITE SCATTERED and assumes the
190 whole data-out buffer can be read from IF given by the --in=IF
191 option. The whole data-out buffer is the parameter list header,
192 followed by zero or more LBA range descriptors, optionally fol‐
193 lowed by some pad bytes and then the data to be written to the
194 media. If the --lba=LBA[,LBA...], --num=NUM[,NUM...] or
195 --scat-file=SF options are also given then an error is gener‐
196 ated. The DOF argument should be the value suitable for the
197 'Logical Block Data Offset' field in the WRITE SCATTERED cdb.
198 This is the offset in the data-out buffer where the data to
199 write to the media commences. The unit of that field is the
200 actual block size which is the logical block size plus a multi‐
201 ple of 8, if protection information (PI) is being sent. When WPR
202 (from --wrprotect=WPR) is greater than zero then PI is expected.
203 SBC-4 revision 15 does not state it but it would appear that a
204 DOF value of 0 is invalid. It is suggested that this option be
205 used with the --strict option while experimenting as random or
206 incorrect data fed in via the --in=IF option could write a lot
207 of "interesting" data all over the DEVICE. If DOF is given as 0
208 the utility will scan the data in IF until RD LBA range descrip‐
209 tors are found; or if RD is also 0 until a degenerate LBA range
210 descriptor is found.
211 -D, --dld=DLD
213 where DLD is the duration limits descriptor spread across 3 bits
214 in the SCSI WRITE(16) and the WRITE SCATTERED(16) cdbs. DLD is
215 between 0 to 7 inclusive with a default of zero. The DLD0 field
216 in WRITE(16) and WRITE SCATTERED(16) is set if (0x1 & DLD) is
217 non-zero. The DLD1 field in both cdbs is set if (0x2 & DLD) is
218 non-zero. The DLD2 field in both cdbs is set if (0x4 & DLD) is
219 non-zero.
220 -d, --dpo
222 if this option is given then the DPO (disable page out) bit
223 field in the cdb is set. The default is to clear this bit field.
224 Applies to all commands supported by thus utility except WRITE
225 SAME.
226 -x, --dry-run
228 this option exits (with a status of 0) just before it would oth‐
229 erwise send the selected SCSI write command. It may still send a
230 SCSI READ CAPACITY command (16 byte variant and perhaps 10 byte
231 variant as well) so the DEVICE is still required. It reads the
232 data in and processes it if the --in=IF and/or the
233 --scat-file=SF options are given. All command line processing
234 and sanity checks (e.g. if the --strict option is given) will be
235 performed and if there is an error then there will be a non zero
236 exit status value.
237 If this option is given twice (e.g. -xx) then instead of per‐
238 forming the selected write SCSI command, the data-out buffer is
239 written to a file called sg_write_x.bin . If it doesn't exist
240 then that file is created in the current directory and is trun‐
241 cated if it previously did exist with longer contents. The
242 data-out buffer is written in binary with some information about
243 it written to stdout. For writes other than scattered the file‐
244 name and its length in bytes is output to stdout. For write
245 scattered additionally its number of LBA range descriptors and
246 its logical block data offset written to stdout.
247 -f, --fua
249 if this option is given then the FUA (force unit access) bit
250 field in the cdb is set. The default is to clear this bit field.
251 Applies to all commands supported by thus utility except WRITE
252 SAME.
253 -G, --generation=EOG,NOG
255 the arguments for this option are used by the ORWITE(32) command
256 only. EOG is placed in the "Expected ORWgeneration" field while
257 NOG is placed in the "New ORWgeneration" field. Both are 32 bits
258 long and default to zero.
259 -g, --grpnum=GN
261 sets the 'Group number' field to GN. Defaults to a value of
262 zero. GN should be a value between 0 and 63.
263 -h, --help
265 output the usage message then exit. Use multiple times for more
266 help. Currently '-h' to '-hhhh' provide different output.
267 -i, --in=IF
269 read data (in binary) from a file named IF in a single OS system
270 call (in Unix: read(2)). That data is placed in a continuous
271 buffer and then used as the data-out buffer for all SCSI write
272 commands apart from WRITE SCATTERED(16 or 32) which may include
273 other data in the data-out buffer. For WRITE SCATTERED (16 or
274 32) the data-out buffer is made up of 3 or 4 components in this
275 order: a parameter list header (32 zero bytes); zero or more LBA
276 range descriptors, optionally some pad bytes (zeros) and then
277 data to write to the media. For WRITE SCATTERED IF only provides
278 the data to write to the media unless --combined=DOF is given.
279 When the --combined=DOF option is given IF contains all compo‐
280 nents of the WRITE SCATTERED data-out buffer in binary. The data
281 read from IF starts from byte offset OFF which defaults to zero
282 and no more than DLEN bytes are read from that point (i.e. from
283 the file byte offset OFF). If DLEN is zero or not given the rest
284 of the file IF is read. This option is mandatory apart from when
285 --same=1 is given (that sets the NDOB bit which stands for "No
286 Data Out Buffer"). In Unix based OSes, any number of zeros can
287 be produced by using the /dev/zero device file.
288 IF may be "-" which is taken as stdin. In this case the --off‐
289 set=OFF,DLEN can be given with OFF set to 0 and LEN set to a
290 non-zero value, preferably a multiple of the actual block size.
291 The utility can also deduce how long the IF should be from NUM
292 (or the sum of them in the case of a scatter list).
293 -l, --lba=LBA[,LBA...]
295 where the argument is a single Logical Block Address (LBA) or a
296 comma separated list of LBAs each of which is the address of the
297 first block written by the selected write command. Only the
298 WRITE SCATTERED command can usefully take more than one LBA.
299 Whatever number of LBAs is given, there needs to be an equal
300 number of NUMs given to the --num=NUM[,NUM...] option. The first
301 given LBA joins with the first given NUM to form the first LBA
302 range descriptor (which T10 number from zero in SBC-4). The sec‐
303 ond LBA joins with the second LBA to form the second LBA range
304 descriptor, etc. A more convenient way to define a large number
305 of LBA range descriptors is with the --scat-file=SF option.
306 Defaults to logical block 0 (which could be dangerous) while NUM
307 defaults to 0 which makes the combination harmless. LBA is
308 assumed to be in decimal unless prefixed with '0x' or has a
309 trailing 'h'.
310 -N, --normal
312 the choice of a "normal" WRITE (16 or 32) command can be made
313 explicitly with this option. In the absence of selecting any
314 other command (e.g. --atomic=AB ), the choice of a "normal"
315 WRITE is the default.
316 -n, --num=NUM[,NUM...]
318 where the argument is a single NUMber of blocks (NUM) or a comma
319 separated list of NUMs that pair with the corresponding entries
320 in the --lba=LBA[,LBA...] option. If a NUM is given and is not
321 provided by another method (e.g. by using the --scat-file=SF
322 option) then it defaults to the number of blocks derived from
323 the size of the file named by IF (starting at byte offset OFF to
324 the end or the file or DLEN). Apart from the --combined=DOF
325 option, an LBA must be explicitly given (either with I--lba=LBA
326 or via --scat-file=SF), if not NUM defaults to 0 as a safety
327 measure.
328 -o, --offset=OFF[,DLEN]
330 where OFF is the byte offset within the file named IF to start
331 reading from. The default value of OFF is zero which is the
332 beginning of file named IF. DLEN is the maximum number of bytes
333 to read, starting at byte offset OFF, from the file named IF.
334 Less bytes will be read if an end of file occurs before DLEN is
335 exhausted. If DLEN is zero or not given then reading from byte
336 offset OFF to the end of the file named IF is assumed.
337 -O, --or
339 selects the ORWRITE command. ORWRITE(16) has similar fields to
340 WRITE(16) apart from the WRPROTECT field being named ORPROTECT
341 with slightly different semantics and the absence of the 3 DLD
342 bit fields. ORWRITE(32) has four extra fields that are set with
343 the --bmop=OP,PGP and --generation=EOG,NOG options. ORWRITE(32)
344 is the only 32 byte cdb command in this utility that does not
345 require a DEVICE formatted with type 1, 2 or 3 PI (although it
346 will still work if it is formatted with PI).
347 -Q, --quiet
349 suppress some informational messages such as the ones associated
350 with detected errors when this utility is about to exit. The
351 exit status value is still returned to the operating system when
352 this utility exits.
353 -r, --ref-tag=RT
355 where RT is the "expected initial logical block reference tag"
356 field found in the 32 byte cdb variants of WRITE, WRITE ATOMIC,
357 WRITE SAME and WRITE STREAM. The field is also found in the
358 WRITE SCATTERED(32) LBA range descriptors. It is a 32 bit field
359 which means the maximum value is 0xffffffff. The default value
360 is 0xffffffff.
361 -S, --same=NDOB
363 selects the WRITE SAME command with the NDOB field set to NDOB
364 which stands for No Data-Out Buffer. NDOB can take values 0 or 1
365 (i.e. it is a single bit field). When --same=1 all options asso‐
366 ciated with the data-out buffer are ignored.
367 -q, --scat-file=SF
369 where SF is the name of an auxiliary file containing the scatter
370 list for the WRITE SCATTERED command. If the --scat-raw option
371 is also given then SF is assumed to contain both the parameter
372 list header (32 bytes of zeros) followed by zero or more LBA
373 range descriptors which are also 32 bytes long each. These com‐
374 ponents are as defined by SBC-4 (i.e. in binary with integers
375 in big endian format). If the --scat-raw option is not given
376 then a file of ACSII hexadecimal is expected as described in the
377 SCATTERED FILE ASCII FORMAT section below.
378 If this option is given with the --combined=DOF option then this
379 utility will exit with a syntax error. SF must not be "-", a way
380 of stopping the user trying to redirect stdin.
381 -R, --scat-raw
383 this option only effects the way that the file named SF from the
384 --scat-file=SF option for WRITE SCATTERED is interpreted. By
385 default (i.e. without this option), SF is parsed as ASCII hexa‐
386 decimal with blank lines and line contents from and including
387 '#' to the end of line ignored. Hence it can contain comments
388 and other indications. When this option is given, the file named
389 SF is interpreted as binary. As binary it is assumed to contain
390 32 bytes of zeros (the WRITE SCATTERED parameter list header)
391 followed by zero or more LBA range descriptors (which are 32
392 bytes each). If the --strict option is given the reserved field
393 in those two items are checked with any non zero bytes causing
394 an error.
395 -S, --scattered=RD
397 selects the WRITE SCATTERED command with RD being the number of
398 LBA range descriptors that will be placed in the data-out buf‐
399 fer. If RD is zero then the logic will try and determine the
400 number of range descriptors by other means (e.g. by parsing the
401 file named by SF, if there is one). The LBA range descriptors
402 differ between the 16 and 32 byte cdb variants of WRITE SCAT‐
403 TERED. In the 16 byte cdb variant the 32 byte LBA range descrip‐
404 tor is made up of an 8 byte LBA, followed by a 4 byte num‐
405 ber_of_blocks followed by 20 bytes of zeros. In the 32 byte
406 variant the LBA and number_of_blocks are followed by a RT (4
407 bytes), an AT (2 bytes) and a TM (2 bytes) then 12 bytes of
408 zeros.
409 This paragraph applies when RD is greater than zero. If RD is
410 less than the number of LBA range descriptors built from command
411 line options, from the --scat-file=SF option or decoded from IF
412 (when the --combined=DOF option is given) then RD takes prece‐
413 dence; so RD is placed in the "Number of LBA Range Descriptors"
414 field in the cdb. If RD is greater than the number of LBA range
415 descriptors found from the provided data and options, then an
416 error is generated.
417 -T, --stream=ID
419 selects the WRITE STREAM command with the STR_ID field set to
420 ID. ID can take values from 0 to 0xffff (i.e. it is a 16 bit
421 field).
422 -s, --strict
424 when this option is present, more things (e.g. that reserved
425 fields contain zeros) and any irregularities will terminate the
426 utility with a message to stderr and an indicative exit status.
427 While experimenting with these commands, especially WRITE SCAT‐
428 TERED, it is recommended to use this option.
429 -t, --tag-mask=TM
431 where TM is the "logical block application tag mask" field
432 found in the 32 byte cdb variants of WRITE, WRITE ATOMIC, WRITE
433 SAME and WRITE STREAM. The field is also found in the WRITE
434 SCATTERED(32) LBA range descriptors. It is a 16 bit field which
435 means the maximum value is 0xffff. The default value is 0xffff.
436 -I, --timeout=TO
438 where TO is the command timeout value in seconds. The default
439 value is 120 seconds. If NUM is large on slow media then these
440 WRITE commands may require considerably more time than 120 sec‐
441 onds to complete.
442 -u, --unmap=U_A
444 where U_A is OR-ed bit values used to set the UNMAP and ANCHOR
445 bit fields in the WRITE SAME (16 or 32) cdb. If U_A is 1 then
446 the UNMAP bit field is set; if U_A is 2 then the ANCHOR bit
447 field is set; if U_A is 3 then both the UNMAP and ANCHOR bit
448 fields are set. The default value for both bit fields is clear
449 (0); setting U_A to 0 will also clear both bit fields.
450 -v, --verbose
452 increase the degree of verbosity (debug messages). These mes‐
453 sages are usually written to stderr.
454 -V, --version
456 output version string then exit.
457 -w, --wrprotect=WPR
459 sets the WRPROTECT field (3 bits) in all sg_write_x commands
460 apart from ORWRITE which has a 3 bit ORPROTECT field (and the
461 synopsis shows OPR to highlight the difference). In all cases
462 WPR is placed in that 3 bit field. The default value is zero
463 which does not send any PI in the data-out buffer. WPR should be
464 a value between 0 and 7.
465
467 All commands in this utility can take a --scat-file=SF and that option
468 can be seen as a replacement for the --lba=LBA[,LBA...] and
469 --num=NUM[,NUM...] options. if both the --scat-file=SF and --scat-raw
470 options are given then the file named SF is expected to be binary and
471 contain the parameter list header (32 bytes of zeros for both the 16
472 and 32 byte variants) followed by zero or more LBA range descriptors,
473 each of 32 bytes each. This section describes what is expected in SF
474 when the --scat-raw option is not given.
475 The ASCII hexadecimal "scatter file" (named by SF) can contain com‐
477 ments, empty lines and numbers. If multiple numbers appear on one line
478 they can be separated by spaces, tabs or a single comma. Numbers are
479 parsed as decimal unless prefixed by "0x" (or "0X") or have a suffix of
480 "h". Ox is the prefix of hexadecimal number is the C language while T10
481 uses the "h" suffix for the same purpose. Anything from and including a
482 "#" character to the end-of-line is ignored, so comments can be placed
483 there.
484 For the WRITE SCATTERED (16) command, its LBA range descriptors contain
486 two items per descriptor: an 8 byte LBA followed by a 4 byte num‐
487 ber_of_blocks. The remaining 20 bytes of the descriptor are zeros. The
488 format accepted is relatively loose with each decoded value being
489 placed in an LBA and then a number_of_blocks until the end-of-file is
490 reached. The pattern starts with a LBA and if it doesn't finish with a
491 number_of_blocks (i.e. an odd number of values are parsed) an error
492 occurs. So the number of LBA range descriptors generated will be half
493 the number of values parsed in SF.
494 For the WRITE SCATTERED (32) command, its LBA range descriptors contain
496 five items per descriptor: an 8 byte LBA followed by a 4 byte num‐
497 ber_of_blocks, then a 4 byte RT, a 2 byte AT, and a 2 byte TM. The last
498 three items are associated with protection information (PI). The
499 accepted format in the SF file is more constrained than the 16 byte cdb
500 variant. The items for each LBA range descriptor must be found on one
501 line with adjacent items being comma separated. The first two items
502 (LBA and number_of_blocks) must be given, and if no more items are on
503 the line then RT, AT and TM are given their default values (all "ff"
504 bytes). Spaces and tabs may appear between items but commas are the
505 separators. Two commas with no value between them will cause the "miss‐
506 ing" item to receive its default value.
507
509 Various numeric arguments (e.g. LBA) may include multiplicative suf‐
510 fixes or be given in hexadecimal. See the "NUMERIC ARGUMENTS" section
511 in the sg3_utils(8) man page.
512 In Linux, prior to lk 3.17, the sg driver did not support cdb sizes
514 greater than 16 bytes. Hence a device node like /dev/sg1 which is asso‐
515 ciated with the sg driver would fail with this utility if the --32
516 option was given (or implied by other options). The bsg driver with
517 device nodes like /dev/bsg/6:0:0:1 does support cdb sizes greater than
518 16 bytes since its introduction in lk 2.6.28 .
519
521 The exit status of sg_write_x is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise see
522 the sg3_utils(8) man page.
523
525 One simple usage is to write 4 blocks of zeros from (and including) a
526 given LBA according to the rules of WRITE ATOMIC with an atomic bound‐
527 ary of 0. Since no cdb size option is given, the 16 byte cdb will be
528 assumed (i.e. WRITE ATOMIC(16)):
529 sg_write_x --atomic=0 --in=/dev/zero --lba=0x1234 --num=4 /dev/sdc
531 Since --bs=BS has not been given, then this utility will call the READ
533 CAPACITY(16) command on /dev/sdc to determine the number of bytes in a
534 logical block. If the READ CAPACITY(16) command fails then the READ
535 CAPACITY(10) command is tried. Let us assume one of them works and that
536 the number of bytes in each logical block is 512 bytes. So 4 blocks of
537 zeros (each block containing 512 bytes) will be written from (and
538 including) LBA 0x1234 . Now to bypass the need for the READ CAPACITY
539 command(s) the --bs=BS option can be used:
540 sg_write_x --atomic=0 --bs=512 --in=/dev/zero --lba=0x1234 --num=4
542 /dev/sdc
543 Since --bs= is given and its value (512) is a power of 2, then the
545 actual block size is also 512. If instead 520 was given then the logi‐
546 cal block size would be 512 (the highest power of 2 less than 520) and
547 the actual block size would be 520 bytes. To send the 32 byte variant
548 add --32 as in:
549 sg_write_x --atomic=0 --32 --bs=512 --in=/dev/zero --lba=0x1234
551 --num=4 /dev/sdc
552 To send a WRITE STREAM(32) with a STR_ID of 1 use the following:
554 sg_write_x --stream=1 --32 --bs=512 --in=/dev/zero --lba=0x1234
556 --num=4 /dev/sdc
557 Next is a WRITE SCATTERED(16) command with the scatter list, split
559 between the --lba= and --num= options, on the command line:
560 sg_write_x --scattered=2 --lba=2,0x33 --num=4,1 -i /dev/zero
562 /dev/sg1
563 Example of a WRITE SCATTERED(16) command with a degenerate LBA range
565 descriptor (first element to --lba= and --num=):
566 sg_write_x --scattered=2 --lba=0,0x33 --num=0,1 -i /dev/zero
568 /dev/sg1
569 Example of a WRITE SCATTERED(16) command with the scatter list in
571 scat_file.txt
572 sg_write_x --scattered=3 -q scat_file.txt -i /dev/zero /dev/sg1
574 Next a WRITE SCATTERED(16) command with its scatter list and data in a
576 single file. Note that the argument to --scattered= is 0 so the number
577 of LBA range descriptors is calculated by analyzing the first two
578 blocks of scat_data.bin (because the argument to --combined= is 2) :
579 sg_write_x --scattered=0 --combined=2 -i scat_data.bin /dev/sg1
581 When the -xx option is used, a WRITE SCATTERED command is not executed
583 but instead the contents of the data-out buffer are written to a file
584 called sg_write_x.bin . In the case of WRITE SCATTERED that binary file
585 is suitable for supplying to a later invocation to do the actual write
586 to media. For example:
587 sg_write_x --scattered=3 -q scat_file.txt -xx -i /dev/zero /dev/sg1
589 Wrote 8192 bytes to sg_write_x.bin, LB data offset: 1
590 Number of LBA range descriptors: 3
591 sg_write_x --scattered=0 --combined=1 -i sg_write_x.bin /dev/sg1
592 Notice when the sg_write_x.bin is written (and nothing is written to
594 the media), a summary of what has happened is sent to stdout. The value
595 shown for "LB data offset:" (1) should be given to the --combined=
596 option when the write to media actually occurs (i.e. the second invoca‐
597 tion shown directly above).
598
600 Written by Douglas Gilbert.
601
603 Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.
604
606 Copyright © 2017-2020 Douglas Gilbert
607 This software is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO war‐
608 ranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PUR‐
609 POSE.
610
612 sg_readcap,sg_vpd,sg_write_same,sg_stream_ctl(sg3_utils)
613sg3_utils-1.45 January 2020 SG_WRITE_X(8)